Extendable wireless power delivery for small devices

ABSTRACT

In various embodiments, an electronic device such as a portable computer has a structure that extends from the device to wirelessly transfer electrical power between itself and an external device. The structure may be placed in a non-extended position when not being used for such power transfer. In some embodiments power transfer may take place in either direction, and may be used for various purposes, such as to provide operational power and/or to charge a battery. The external device may be placed on or near the extended structure for power transfer to take place.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of, claims the benefit of, andpriority to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/940,455 filed Nov. 5,2010, and entitled “EXTENDABLE WIRELESS POWER DELIVERY FOR SMALLDEVICES,” the subject matter of which is incorporated by referenceherein in its entirety.

BACKGROUND

The majority of personal computing and communication devices are nowpowered by batteries, and therefore require a battery charger (which maysometimes also provide operating power when the device is stationary).Common examples are notebook computers and cell phones. If the user istraveling, he or she must carry a separate charger for each device,which can be cumbersome. Wireless chargers, such as those based oninduction techniques, can reduce the amount of cabling each chargerrequires, but do nothing to reduce the number of chargers the user needsto carry or store.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Some embodiments of the invention may be better understood by referringto the following description and accompanying drawings that are used toillustrate embodiments of the invention. In the drawings:

FIG. 1 shows a device with a extendable shelf for wireless batterycharging, according to an embodiment of the invention.

FIGS. 2A, 2B show other devices with an extendable shelf for batterycharging, according to an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 3 shows a flow diagram of a method of operating a wireless powertransfer system, according to an embodiment of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the following description, numerous specific details are set forth.However, it is understood that embodiments of the invention may bepracticed without these specific details. In other instances, well-knowncircuits, structures and techniques have not been shown in detail inorder not to obscure an understanding of this description.

References to “one embodiment”, “an embodiment”, “example embodiment”,“various embodiments”, etc., indicate that the embodiment(s) of theinvention so described may include particular features, structures, orcharacteristics, but not every embodiment necessarily includes theparticular features, structures, or characteristics. Further, someembodiments may have some, all, or none of the features described forother embodiments.

In the following description and claims, the terms “coupled” and“connected,” along with their derivatives, may be used. It should beunderstood that these terms are not intended as synonyms for each other.Rather, in particular embodiments, “connected” is used to indicate thattwo or more elements are in direct physical or electrical contact witheach other. “Coupled” is used to indicate that two or more elementsco-operate or interact with each other, but they may or may not haveintervening physical or electrical components between them.

As used in the claims, unless otherwise specified the use of the ordinaladjectives “first”, “second”, “third”, etc., to describe a commonelement, merely indicate that different instances of like elements arebeing referred to, and are not intended to imply that the elements sodescribed must be in a given sequence, either temporally, spatially, inranking, or in any other manner.

Various embodiments of the invention may be implemented in one or anycombination of hardware, firmware, and software. The invention may alsobe implemented as instructions contained in or on a computer-readablemedium, which may be read and executed by one or more processors toenable performance of the operations described herein. Acomputer-readable medium may include any mechanism for storinginformation in a form readable by one or more computers. For example, acomputer-readable medium may include a tangible non-transitory storagemedium, such as but not limited to read only memory (ROM); random accessmemory (RAM); magnetic disk storage media; optical storage media; aflash memory device, etc.

Either of the terms “charger” or “battery charger”, as used in thisdocument, refers to a device, circuitry, and/or other components, forreplenishing the electrical charge in a rechargeable battery. Either ofthe terms “wireless charger” or “wireless battery charger” refers to acharger that can accomplish this task without the need for a wiredelectrical connection between the charger and the device whose batteryis being charged. The term “wireless power delivery device”, andvariations of that term, refer to a device that delivers electricalpower from a first device to a second device without the need for awired electrical connection between the first and second device. Thatpower may be used by the second device for charging a battery and/or forproviding operating power. In some cases, the device delivering thepower may be obtaining that power from its own battery rather than awired electrical connection, but that may be fairly irrelevant to thewireless power delivery mechanism, other than the limited amount ofpower that may be available from the battery.

In various embodiments, wireless battery charging may be accomplishedwith a structure that extends from a small computer device when used forbattery charging, but retracts when not in use. ‘Extended’, as used inthis document, means that at least a portion of the structure ispositioned beyond the normal contours of the device, but the structureis still mechanically connected to the device. ‘Retracted’, as used inthis document, means that the structure is either completely or mostlylocated within the device, and/or is positioned flat against the normalcontours of the device. In some embodiments, the extended structure mayform a shelf (for example, a structure with the overall form factor ofan optical disk drive).

A second device may be placed on or near the extended structure and thebattery charged without removing or disconnecting the battery from thedevice it powers. In some embodiments the battery charger may be in thecomputer device containing the extendable structure and the battery inthe device that is placed on or near that structure. In otherembodiments the battery to be charged may be in the computer device andthe charger in the device that is placed on/near the structure.

For example, the battery in a cell phone may be charged by placing thecell phone on the shelf. In other embodiments, the cell phone or otherdevice whose battery is to be charged only needs to be placed near theextendable structure, which may or may not have the appearance of ashelf. In another example, the charger device may be placed on or nearthe extended structure, and the battery in the computer device may becharged.

The electrical power being transferred may be conveyed between theextended structure and the external device through inductive coupling.The device that wirelessly receives the transferred energy may havecircuitry to receive the inductive energy and convert that energy into ausable form (for example, a coil or other antenna, a rectifier, avoltage regulator, etc.).

FIG. 1 shows a device with a extendable shelf for wireless batterycharging, according to an embodiment of the invention. In theillustrated embodiment, a notebook computer 110 has an extendablestructure 120, which may have the general form of a shelf when in theextended position (shown). In some embodiments, this structure may havethe form factor of an optical disk drive, and may fit into the sameopening, with the same extension and retraction mechanisms, as anoptical disk drive. Such devices typically extend horizontally from theside of the notebook computer, as shown, moving in a directionperpendicular to the surface of the side from which the extensionoccurs. Another device 130, which may be a cell phone or other device,may be placed on the shelf 120, and the recharging circuitry activated.Although a notebook computer has been indicated, device 100 may insteadbe a netbook computer, a laptop computer, a desktop computer, a notebookcomputer, a tablet computer, or some other type of computer device.

In some embodiments the structure 120 may contain all or part of thepower delivery circuitry. In particular, structure 120 may contain the‘antenna’ for wirelessly transmitting the electrical energy, but theremaining circuitry for power delivery may be in the computer device 110but not in structure 120. In other embodiments the structure 120 maycontain an antenna to receive the wireless energy from an external powertransmitting device, with additional circuitry in computer device 110 tocharge the computer's battery and/or provide operating power to computer110. In still other embodiments, the structure 120 may contain circuitryfor power delivery in both directions (to or from the external device130), so that device 110 may either deliver power or receive powerwirelessly by using structure 120.

FIGS. 2A, 2B show other devices with an extendable shelf for batterycharging, according to an embodiment of the invention. In theillustrated example of FIG. 2A, a portable computer 210 has anextendable structure 220, on which another device 230 may be placed forbattery charging. Structure 220 may have a hinged connection at or nearthe top edge of the lid of device 210, allowing the structure to pivotup to a horizontal position for the charging operation. The term ‘lid’,as used here, indicates the part of the device 210 containing thedisplay, and that is upright when the device is in a normal usablestate, but folds down against the keyboard section for storage orcarrying. This is typically the part containing the display, but otherembodiments may differ.

When not being used for a charging operation, the structure 220 mayrotate back down to lay flat against the lid of device 210, and in someembodiments may rotate into a recessed area be flush with the outercontours of device 210. The structure 220 in the illustration iscentered on the top edge of the lid and is not as wide as the lid, butin other embodiments it might not be centered or might be as wide. Inother embodiments, extendable structure 220 may be hinged to portablecomputer 210 closer to the center of the outer surface of the lid,rather than at or near the edge.

In the illustrated example of FIG. 2B, portable computer 215 has anextendable structure 225, on which the other device 230 may be placedfor battery charging. Structure 225 may have a hinged connection at ornear the bottom edge of the lid, and in some embodiments, this hingedconnection may be co-axial with the hinged connection that connects thelid with the keyboard portion of portable computer 215. When not beingused for a charging operation, the structure 225 may swivel back againstthe lid of device 210, and in some embodiments may lay flush against thelid. The structure 225 in the illustration is as wide as the lid and iscentered on the lid, but in other embodiments it might not be centeredand/or might be narrower. Although the illustrated examples showstructures with an overall flat shape, resembling a shelf, this is forexample only. Other embodiments may have a structure with any feasibleshape. Having a shape that is operationally functional (delivers powerefficiently in the desired direction(s), and aesthetically functional(has a form factor that is compatible within the larger device) maygenerally be a high priority in determining the shape and/or appearance.

FIG. 3 shows a flow diagram of a method of operating a wireless powertransfer system, according to an embodiment of the invention. Althoughwritten in terms of a wireless battery charger, the same principlesapply to wirelessly transferring power for operational use. At 310 theextendable portion of the charger may be extended to its chargingposition. In some embodiments this may be mechanically performed by theuser by pushing, pulling, or pressing the appropriate place on thecomputer device. In other embodiments this may be done by the computerdevice itself, in response to a command entered into the computerdevice. Other techniques may also be used.

At 320 the computer device may determine if it is appropriate toactivate the charging circuitry. In some embodiments this may requirethat the user enter a command or push a button to activate the chargingcircuitry. In other embodiments this determination may be made when thedevice determines the extendable portion is in its extended position,either by sensing its position or by activating a command to extend itand assuming the extension took place. In still other embodiments thedevice may sense the weight of another device on the extended portion,and take that as an indication a device with a rechargeable battery isin position for recharging. Various other approaches may be used insteadof, or in addition to, any of these techniques to determine that thecharging circuitry should be activated. In some embodiments, powerdelivery may not be allowed under certain circumstances (e.g., computer110 is not plugged into an electrical outlet and/or its own batterycharge is low). In such instances, the power delivery circuitry may bedisabled.

At 330 the charger circuitry may be activated, and charging may takeplace. When charging has been completed, the charger circuitry may bedeactivated at 340. In some embodiments, deactivation may be initiatedwhen the user removes the external device from the extendable portion.In other embodiments deactivation may be initiated by the user enteringa command, or pushing a button, or otherwise indicating to the computerdevice to turn off the charging circuitry. In still other embodiments,the charging circuitry may be deactivated when the extendable portion isretracted. Various other approaches may be used instead of, or inaddition to, any of these techniques.

The foregoing description is intended to be illustrative and notlimiting. Variations will occur to those of skill in the art. Thosevariations are intended to be included in the various embodiments of theinvention, which are limited only by the scope of the following claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. An apparatus comprising: a first devicecontaining a processor, a display, a keyboard, and a wireless powertransfer system contained at least partly in a structure, the structurehaving an extended position to be used when wirelessly transferringpower between the first device and an external device and a retractedposition to be used when not transferring power between the first deviceand the external device.
 2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein thestructure has a form factor of an optical disk drive.
 3. The apparatusof claim 1, wherein the structure, when extended, forms a shelf on whichto set the external device.
 4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein thefirst device is selected from a list of computers consisting of: a) adesktop computer; b) a laptop computer; c) a notebook computer; d) anetbook computer; and e) a tablet computer.
 5. The apparatus of claim 1,wherein an edge of the structure has a hinged attachment to a body ofthe first device and is to be extended from the first device by rotatingthe structure about the hinged attachment.
 6. The apparatus of claim 1,wherein the structure is to extend from the first device in a directionperpendicular to a surface of the first device.
 7. The apparatus ofclaim 1, wherein the structure is to use inductive coupling to transferpower between the first device and the external device.
 8. The apparatusof claim 1, wherein the structure is to be used to charge a battery. 9.The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the structure is to be used totransfer power from the first device to the external device.
 10. Theapparatus of claim 1, wherein the structure is to be used to transferpower from the external device to the first device.
 11. A methodcomprising: determining an extendable portion of a wireless powerdelivery system is in position for wirelessly transferring power to orfrom an external device; and activating circuitry for said wirelesslytransferring power.
 12. The method of claim 11, wherein said activatingis in response to an action by a user.
 13. The method of claim 11,wherein said activating is in response to detecting a presence of theexternal device.
 14. The method of claim 11, wherein said determiningcomprises executing a command to extend the extendable portion.
 15. Anarticle comprising a computer-readable non-transitory storage mediumthat contains instructions, which when executed by one or moreprocessors result in performing operations comprising: determining anextendable portion of a wireless power delivery system is in positionfor wirelessly transferring power; and activating circuitry for saidwirelessly transferring power.
 16. The article of claim 15, wherein saidactivating is in response to an action by a user.
 17. The article ofclaim 15, wherein said activating is in response to detecting a presenceof the external device.
 18. The article of claim 15, wherein saiddetermining comprises executing a command to extend the extendableportion.